NORTHWEST REGIONAL: Good Hope advances to Elite 8 with 68-53 win over Dora

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Good Hope Lady Raiders were back in action at the Northwest Regional Wednesday afternoon to play Dora in the Sweet 16 and for the third time in four seasons, the Lady Raiders will be playing in the Elite Eight. Good Hope jumped out to a 23-6 lead in the opening period and kept the Bulldogs at arm’s length the rest of the way to seal a 68-53 win and punch its ticket to the Northwest Regional finals.

Lady Raiders Head Coach Justin Aby was happy to get the win and advance but wants to see more focus from his team on the defensive end when they hit the court again on Tuesday.

“This time of year, obviously the most important stat to get is the W but on our end, I think there’s a lot of things we need to clean up. Just overall our energy and our effort weren’t great,” Aby said. “I felt like we didn’t get a lot of the 50/50 balls tonight so at this point of the year, regardless of who we play next, I think our energy, our effort and our intensity is going to have to be better in order for us to keep playing basketball.”

Good Hope started out the game red-hot on both sides of the court. Ava McSwain and Jolee McHan each knocked down a short jumper to give the Lady Raiders an early 4-0 lead. McSwain drilled a three from the left wing, then Sophie Konrad laid it in to extend their lead to 9-0. Lexi Marshall scored five straight points to put Good Hope ahead, 14-3. Konrad laid it in, then later in the quarter, McHan knocked down another short jumper, and Ella Gossett drained a trey from the right wing to give the Lady Raiders a 21-5 lead late in the first quarter. Konrad put in another basket on their final possession of the first quarter, and Good Hope would go into the second quarter up, 23-6.

Lucie Adams hit a pair of baskets to give the Lady Raiders a 27-8 lead early in the second. A pair of three-point plays by Dora cut it to 27-14 with a little over five minutes to go in the first half. Marshall laid it in, then McSwain added a three from the left wing to make it a 32-17 game. A 6-1 run by the Lady Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 33-23 late in the first half. Gossett and Marshall each knocked down a three to give Good Hope a 39-23 lead, but a late three-point play by Dora cut it to 39-27 at the break.

The scoring slowed down some in the third quarter. A rebound and putback by the Lady Bulldogs made it a 41-31 game almost midway through the third. McSwain drained a three, then Gossett added a basket down low to put Good Hope ahead, 46-31. McSwain nailed a short jumper, then Marshall laid it in before the buzzer to extend their lead to 52-35 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Gossett knocked down a pair from the line, then she later added a three from the right wing to give the Lady Raiders a 57-38 lead early in the final period. Adams’ three-point play made it a 60-40 game. Five quick points by the Lady Bulldogs cut it to 60-45, but McSwain scored five quick points of her own to extend Good Hope’s lead to 65-47. Konrad scored off a Dora turnover, and Gossett added a late free throw to put the finishing touches on a 68-53 win for the Lady Raiders.

McSwain finished with 22 points for Good Hope. Gossett added 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Marshall posted 12 points and five assists in the win. McHan recorded five points and a game-high nine rebounds as well.

The Lady Raiders will be back on the court Tuesday afternoon to play either Deshler or Cordova in the Elite Eight.

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